Atlantic City Boat Show.....observations

[inaforty]

We sat on a 32' Everglades at the Providence boat show. I think it was 374k! Nice boat but I would never spend that kind of $$$$.


I own a sport fisher and so does my good friend Rick (Viking owner). We both also own V 20'S.
The sport fisher market crashed in 2008. Good running boats can be had for short $$$ (50k-/+) and some with diesel power. You must be able and willing to do your own maintenance to make owning one reasonable cost wise. However you still have the cost of insurance,slip,storage fees.

We were thinking of moving into a thirty something with twin outboards.
After looking at things carefully I'm thinking I might keep the sport fisher and repower with reman 3208 CATS. I can repower w/remans cheaper than a new set of 250 hp outboards.
No express or W/A is going to give the room or the ride of a sport fisher with diesels.
The drawback is you don't get the speed of an outboard powered boat or the skinny draft.
.
The old sport fisher keeps me busy all season. Just had a riser /shower head fabricated.
I get bored and have to keep busy. I love anything with an engine....tractor,car,truck,boat, whatever.
Not sure how long my body will allow me to enter and exit the engine room but I'm having fun with it now.

[bgreene]

Good for you - keep at it.

I've got a long list of " winter time to do's " with my boat.........and it's just a V21.

It's rewarding when you do something yourself and it comes out correctly.

[Pipe_Dream]

Originally Posted by inaforty

We sat on a 32' Everglades at the Providence boat show. I think it was 374k! Nice boat but I would never spend that kind of $$$$.


I own a sport fisher and so does my good friend Rick (Viking owner). We both also own V 20'S.
The sport fisher market crashed in 2008. Good running boats can be had for short $$$ (50k-/+) and some with diesel power. You must be able and willing to do your own maintenance to make owning one reasonable cost wise. However you still have the cost of insurance,slip,storage fees.

We were thinking of moving into a thirty something with twin outboards.
After looking at things carefully I'm thinking I might keep the sport fisher and repower with reman 3208 CATS. I can repower w/remans cheaper than a new set of 250 hp outboards.
No express or W/A is going to give the room or the ride of a sport fisher with diesels.
The drawback is you don't get the speed of an outboard powered boat or the skinny draft.
.
The old sport fisher keeps me busy all season. Just had a riser /shower head fabricated.
I get bored and have to keep busy. I love anything with an engine....tractor,car,truck,boat, whatever.
Not sure how long my body will allow me to enter and exit the engine room but I'm having fun with it now.

Thanks for sharing your perspective. As someone who has always had the I-wanna-bigger-boat thing going in the back of my mind, the reality is that it's not going to happen unless some long lost uncle leaves me his lotto winnings. That's TWO incredibly long shots, if you're counting.

While I'm still in the workforce, and expecting to remain there for many more years, the V-20 does what I want it to do given the limited amount of time (sadly) that I get out on the water. And perhaps best of all, it's easy to single-hand.

Cheers!

[inaforty]

Pipe-dream,
We got the crazy "wanna go bigger bug" after spending time on a friend's flybridge boat. If I had to choose between the sport fisher or an outboard powered boat (v 20) I would take the V. The truth is we use the smaller boats way more. Heck we have an old 15' RIB that we use at least 4 times a week during the summer. We rarely use the sport fisher for day trips. When we take the sport fisher it's usually for an overnight or week long trip. Both types of boats are cool. Running fast in the small boat then dropping anchor on a sandbar to go for a swim is great. Leaving the dock for a long weekend with most of the comfort of home on the big boat is also great.

Lucky for me Karen is crazy about boats/boating and being on the water.
We are hopefully going to be able to retire in 10 years. It's doubtful that we will be able to afford a Sport fisher at that time but you never know. It doesn't matter because we have fun even if we're just sitting on the beach with an umbrella and a cooler.

[Pipe_Dream]

Originally Posted by inaforty

Pipe-dream,
We got the crazy "wanna go bigger bug" after spending time on a friend's flybridge boat. If I had to choose between the sport fisher or an outboard powered boat (v 20) I would take the V. The truth is we use the smaller boats way more. Heck we have an old 15' RIB that we use at least 4 times a week during the summer. We rarely use the sport fisher for day trips. When we take the sport fisher it's usually for an overnight or week long trip. Both types of boats are cool. Running fast in the small boat then dropping anchor on a sandbar to go for a swim is great. Leaving the dock for a long weekend with most of the comfort of home on the big boat is also great.

Lucky for me Karen is crazy about boats/boating and being on the water.
We are hopefully going to be able to retire in 10 years. It's doubtful that we will be able to afford a Sport fisher at that time but you never know. It doesn't matter because we have fun even if we're just sitting on the beach with an umbrella and a cooler.

Amen to that. I am fortunate to have a spouse with the same attitude.